Resources available to teachers, parents, students and others include lessons, activities and interactive games that can be searched by grade level, keyword and historical era. Learning activities feature objects selected from the more than 3 million artifacts in the museum’s collections and draw on the expertise of the museum’s renowned curatorial staff making “Smithsonian’s History Explorer” a unique educational experience.

Students can sharpen their critical thinking skills by exploring objects such as a Native American buffalo hide painting, taking electronic behind-the-scenes field trips with museum curators to learn how exhibitions are produced, or playing online matching games where they can discover the seven roles of the President or how to build a sod house.

Teachers will find a wealth of standards-based classroom activities, interactives, media clips and museum objects that can easily be integrated into any K-12 curriculum, as well as professional development opportunities that will help them bring history to life for their students.

“Smithsonian’s History Explorer” was developed under the guidance of a teacher advisory group and made possible by a grant from the Verizon Foundation. The site is accessible at http://historyexplorer.americanhistory.si.edu or via http://www.thinkfinity.org.

June 2008 Certified Trainer of the Month

Karen Horn
Colin College, TX
Number of Educators Trained: 85

Cadre Trainer Karen Horn has been honored as the National Thinkfinity June 2008 Certified Trainer of the month. Horn has been delivering training since 1999 and has received many recognitions and awards for her work and dedication to this program.

When asked what she liked most about training, she said, “The interaction with teachers in bringing to their world a new resource that will save them time in the classroom and provide quality education.”

Horn is an advocate of the Thinkfinity program and has dedicated more than nine years to it. “When the call to work as a Cadre trainer for Thinkfinity arose, I was excited to accept a renewed challenge,” said Horn. “While this new challenge married itself nicely with my work of the past, the chance to improve educational standards through the integration of technology into the curricula continues to be the focus of this 21st Century and I’m delighted to be a part of that cutting edge design.”

Horn’s current position is Professor of Economics at Collin College in Plano, Texas, and she serves as a Certified Trainer for TCEA and Texas teachers. Horn continues to train Alternative Certified Teachers through the Region X Educational Service Center in Texas.

“Thinkfinity is the quintessential program for every teacher and student,” said Horn. “For the beginning teacher, the curve is steep to get up-to-speed on writing lesson plans, finding quality materials, selecting the applicable pedagogy, and a lot more. Thinkfinity brings all of that to the beginning teacher and lays it out in specific steps. For the seasoned teacher, Thinkfinity brings ways in which tried and true lessons can be up-dated, spruced up with interactives, pod-casts, videos, or whatever is preferred for the classroom. For students, Thinkfinity can be re-enforcement, enriching, collaborative learning, conducting research, developing critical thinking skills, and evaluating outcomes.”

Her educational credentials include a B.S. from Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana, an M.S. from Eastern Kentucky University, and 40 hours of postgraduate work toward a doctorate in economics and political science from Baylor University and Texas A&M University.

“The challenge of improving the educational levels of our students throughout the United States with the proper use of technology interwoven throughout the curricula is the call of the 21st century,” said Horn.

While her dedication to education and her involvement in like programs keep her busy, Horn manages to get away once in a while. “When I break away, I always love to be with my children,” said Horn. “They are my best friends and a lot of fun. I also love to play my grand piano since I was supposed to be a music major anyway in my other life. And, last but not least, I love sports … first and foremost is basketball , but that’s because I’m a Hoosier by birth.”

TCEA would like to extend its gratitude and appreciation for all that Karen Horn does for Texas educators. “Karen’s passion for education and the Thinkfinity program has made a difference for teachers and students,” said TCEA Executive Director Ron Cravey. “She is a big part of TCEA’s success with Thinkfinity. Way to go, Karen.”

June 2008 Field Trainer of the Month

Denise Smesny
Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District
Number of Educators Trained in the month of June: 155

Denise Smesny was named Thinkfinity’s National June 2008 Field Trainer of the Month. Smesny trained 155 end users and averaged a survey score of 4.8 out of 5.0. Smesny is not new to this honor. Smesny was named Field Trainer of the Month twice during 2006 and has also been named Field Trainer of the Year.

“I love working with Thinkfinity and think the latest changes are fantastic,” said Smesny. “My most favorite part of the new website is the primary source search option. This is invaluable for students creating projects for history and science fairs in our school district.”

Smesny was trained by Karen Horn and Linda Batty in 2003. “In all my trainings throughout Texas and other states, Denise Smesny is one of the most competent technology trainers I have ever met,” said Thinkfinity Certified Trainer Karen Horn. “She has curriculum insights that allows her, as an Instructional Strategists for Technology, to see the distinct value of Thinkfinity for teachers, and has taken this integration vision of Thinkfinity to all the teachers she trains at Goose Creek ISD.”

Smesny has been delivering Thinkfinity end-user training sessions to educators across the state since 2003. “My most important preparation is to be familiar with my audience so I can tailor the training to the specific curricular or grade level,” said Smesny. “I make sure to target each and every curricular and/or grade level so all participants will leave the training with new and exciting materials to integrate into their curriculum.”

Smesny, an Educational Technology Specialist for Goose Creek CISD, trains teachers on how to integrate technology into existing curriculum and most recently was project manager of the 6th grade NOVA Learning in Hand 1:1 initiative at Horace Mann Junior School.

For more information on the Field Trainer of the Month program and to view current and past honorees, please go to the Thinkfinity website at http://www.thinkfinity.org/pd/ftotm.aspx.

Educators across the state are taking advantage of FREE Thinkfinity training. In the past three months, 108 new Field Trainers have been trained, and based on records shared by the Verizon Foundation, Texas is leading the pack! Congratulations to all educators that have taken on the initiative and the goal to become Thinkfinity Field Trainers and train educators across the state. If you are interested in this program and in becoming a part of the Texas Thinkfinity Trainer Network, please email mmartinez@tcea.org.

ThinkfinityTexas is looking for educators willing to contribute an idea or lesson about how to best use Thinkfinity.org in public schools today. Ideally, I’d like to find one person to contribute one blog entry per day.

Note that all content shared is for educational use and shared under NonCommercial-ShareAlike-Attribution Creative Commons Copyright.

More information appears here.

My vision for Thinkfinity Texas is pretty straightforward and looks like this…note that I’m just brainstorming the possibilities.